


Closure

by aritzen



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Final Haikyuu Quest, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 13:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15462363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aritzen/pseuds/aritzen
Summary: Demon lord Kuroo accidentally summons Yaku to his realm, accidentally falls in love, not so accidentally has to let him go.





	Closure

 

_Just know that I am someone who genuinely wishes that you have a happy ending._

 

* * *

 

Kuroo, demon lord and right-hand man of the great demon king, is confused. The spell is supposed to open a portal to the Void, the space between space, where he plans to banish the pesky heros out to defeat him and Oikawa. Instead, he finds a small human with short brown hair in the center of his magic circle.

 

“Human,” he says, annoyed by the human’s bright, beautiful eyes peering at him like _he’s_ the odd one out. “How did you get here?”

 

The human scans him from head to toe, brows furrowed, and says, “Kuroo?”

 

In a different circumstance, he may have found the human’s voice captivating, but hearing his name from a stranger has put him on the defensive. Is this Kenma’s trap? He can sense the mage leading the motley crew of heros and warriors to the castle, which means he has about five minutes left to open the portal. “Human,” he demands, “who are you? How do you know my name?”

 

“Huh? What’re you talking about? I’m Yaku—”

 

The human vanishes. Kuroo frowns at the newly formed crack in his floor, hurries to strengthen the barrier around the castle, and, later, tries to identify what went wrong with the spell but is unable to.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo Tetsurou, former captain of the Nekoma boys’ volleyball team and now a senior in college, is eating breakfast. His roommate flops into the chair across from him and shoots him a sullen look. He pauses. Yaku is up earlier than usual and hasn’t bothered with his morning routine yet, still dressed in his cat-patterned pajamas, sporting bed hair that isn’t as bad as Kuroo’s but sticks out nonetheless.

 

“Morning, Yakkun.”

 

“You were in my dream last night,” Yaku replies in an accusatory tone.

 

“Oh?” Kuroo feels a smirk form on his face. “What was I doing?”

 

“Being stupid as usual,” Yaku mutters, looking away.

 

“Now I’m _really_ curious. Details, man.”

 

“I don’t remember,” Yaku snaps and heads abruptly to the bathroom.

 

Puzzled, Kuroo wonders what his dream self did to make Yaku seem so agitated and conflicted.

 

* * *

 

It’s the third time Yaku has dreamed of that world. The first dream is a blur. He isn’t even sure that it was Kuroo and not some generic dream character. The second dream is a bizarre mix of Final Fantasy XV and Dragon Quest. It was definitely Kuroo in this one, fishing and cooking and then battling a mage who looked suspiciously like Kenma, all the while wearing a ridiculously flashy red cloak. The third dream is where it gets weird, and Yaku doesn’t know if he wants to remember it, fresh and vivid as it is.

 

* * *

 

The spell to summon Yaku, Kuroo discovers after three months of trial and error, works only when the two moons in the sky are aligned at apogee, opposite from one another. At any other time, it opens the portal to the Void. He doesn’t know why he’s been so persistent, but the indignant way the human said _I’m Yaku_ has plagued him like a permanent itch that grows worse with every scratch. He wants to meet the human again, if only to complain about the battle he lost that day.

 

* * *

 

“W?”

 

“Yeah,” says Kuroo. “It’s this super meta show about a comic book world that comes to life. I figured you’d be interested since you major in literature and all that.”

 

“But it’s a stupid K-drama.”

 

“But it’s super meta.”

 

Yaku fixes Kuroo with a flat stare, unconvinced.

 

“C’mon, Yakkun. We haven’t hung out in ages...”

 

“And whose fault is it?” Yaku blurts out but nearly bites his tongue when Kuroo winces.

 

He knows, Kuroo knows—they both know _—_ that Kuroo has been accepted by a prestigious graduate program abroad. The deadline to decide is in a few weeks, but Yaku knows that Kuroo has no reason to turn it down. It’s his own fault, really, to have offered Kuroo the extra room in his apartment when Kuroo needed it after his previous roommate moved out. He has gotten used to Kuroo again. Dredged up the feelings he has forgotten over the past three years spent at different universities.

 

* * *

 

Yaku is from another world, Kuroo thinks, even though Yaku laughs at that suggestion and says that there is no other world. Yaku is from another world, because it’s the only way to explain his sudden appearances and disappearances through the portal to the space between space. He must be from another world, but at the same time, he seems to know so much about this world: the rivalry and camaraderie between the heros, the history between Kuroo and Kenma, the chant _we are the blood_. What bothers Kuroo the most, however, is the way Yaku addresses him sometimes. Like he’s talking to someone else.

 

* * *

 

Logically, Yaku reasons, he shouldn’t feel what he feels towards Kuroo. He knows why it won’t work but not why he wants it so badly, so irrationally. This is Japan; they’re both guys. Kuroo is too tall and a pain in the ass. They can’t agree on what they should do for fun—they can’t even agree on what to eat for dinner. All they have in common is volleyball. _Had_. Kuroo is smart, sure, and decent-looking, but Yaku has met smarter people, better-looking people, _nicer_ people who get along with him more often than not. And if this isn’t enough, he also can’t forget Kuroo’s ex-girlfriend, who is in every way _not_ _him_.

 

* * *

 

“What’s that?”

 

Kuroo jumps, dropping his ladle into the bubbling pot, and gapes at Yaku who has just manifested in his lair. “Wha—where the hell did you come from? I didn’t—” _He didn’t summon him._ This has never happened before. He glances out the window and catches sight of an aurora in the night sky, a first at a latitude this south. Did that screw up spacetime?

 

“I missed you, so I came to see you. What’re you making?” Yaku asks as he joins Kuroo at the hearth.

 

“Uh...” Kuroo replies like the smartest and most powerful demon lord that he is, and tries to ignore the sheer amount of presence Yaku has while his heart hammers. “It’s, uh, it’s... blood.”

 

Yaku snorts. “That’s not blood. It’s orange. It’s pumpkin soup, isn’t it? Smells like it.”

 

“It’s...” Kuroo wonders if he has fallen victim to some unknown black magic, one that a powerless human can cast, one that makes Yaku’s warmth overwhelm him even as he stands in front of fire. “It’s blood,” he manages to squeak. “It’s the blood of carassius auratus. A mere mortal like you will never understand.”

 

Yaku laughs. “Whatever you say, dude.”

 

Grumbling, Kuroo fishes for the sunken ladle and freezes when Yaku leans against him as if it’s natural, as if he’s done it a thousand times, as if it’s the only place to be.

 

Yaku smiles and reaches up to ruffle his hair. “Nerd,” he whispers.

 

Yaku is confusing him with someone else again, but there is something in the familiarity that stirs him, something in the gesture that charms him, so he pulls Yaku into a tight hug and buries his nose in the calming scent that he’s never been able to identify.

 

* * *

 

_I love you. I love you so much that I want to scream. I love you, and maybe you love me too, but I know you’ll choose someone else one day._

 

* * *

 

Yaku wakes up with tears stinging his eyes. He presses his palms and his blanket to his eyes, his breath uneven. All he can think of is what the female lead of W says to the editor who laments the terrible ending of the comic book: _Why are you so worked up? He’s just a comic book hero. You should let it go._

 

She isn’t speaking to the editor. She’s speaking to herself, starting as a fan who simply wanted a happy ending for her favorite character until she got dragged into the comic book world and fell in love with the person that the hero is.

 

_He is your fantasy._

 

_He isn’t real._

 

* * *

 

Yaku doesn’t dream of the demon lord Kuroo again. Gone is the aerial view of a rugged landscape, and gone is the softness of a cloak dyed in the color of arterial blood carrying oxygen.

 

* * *

 

“You what?”

 

“I’m staying in Tokyo.”

 

Yaku scowls at Kuroo and turns back to the vegetables that he’s been chopping. “That’s the _dumbest_ decision I’ve ever heard anyone on this planet make. I knew you were stupid, but not this stupid. You’ll regret it, dumbass. Why are you even staying in Tokyo? Can’t give up the sushi?”

 

“I talked to Kai.”

 

“Oh great. Kai. I thought Kai was the voice of reason. What did you even—”

 

“We talked about you.”

 

Yaku freezes, forgets to breathe.

 

“We talked about us,” Kuroo adds in a quiet voice. “The thing is, Yaku, whenever I think about going abroad, I think about how weird it’ll be to live in an apartment without you. I know it’s stupid, but I just... I just can’t picture it. It’s weird. I thought I got over you, but apparently not. I wasn’t ready back then, and I’m not sure I am now, but I don’t want to go away. I want to be with you. I want to spend time with you. Is that okay?”

 

Yaku doesn’t know what he said in response, doesn’t remember what he did next. He just remembers breaking down and holding on to the person he’s embraced too many times in his dreams. The warmth is the same, as intangible as it is tangible.

 

* * *

  

_Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a dream and I’m just waiting to wake up._

_I don’t know what I’ll wake up to, because I’m pretty sure this is reality._

 

_Isn’t it?_

 

 


End file.
